Sunday, July 15, 2007

Three christian protesters disrupted a prayer by a Hindu priest on Thursday at the opening of a U.S. Senate hearing, calling it an abomination and shouting slogans about Jesus Christ.It was the first time the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was said by a Hindu priest.

Capitol police said two women and one man were arrested and charged with causing a disruption in the public gallery of the Senate. The three started shouting when guest Chaplain Rajan Zed, a Hindu from Nevada, began his prayer.They shouted "No Lord but Jesus Christ" and "There's only one true God," and used the term "abomination."

Barry Lynn, executive director of religious watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest showed the intolerance of the "religious right.... I don't think the Senate should open with prayers, but if it's going to happen, the invocations ought to reflect the diversity of the American people".

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had invited Zed. "I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly father regarding peace," he said after the disruption.

Zed, sporting a saffron robe, a rudraksh mala round his neck, and a prominent tilak on his forehead, then nervously went through the invocation chosen from the Rig Veda and Bhagavad Gita."Let us pray," he began, "We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme, who is inside the heart of the earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of heaven. May he stimulate and illuminate our minds.Lead us from the unreal to real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. May we be protected together. May we be nourished together. May we work together with great vigor. May our study be enlightening."